The divine ascent of the Christian-coded male pop star

Shaboozey and Jelly Roll perform during CMA Fest 2025 on June 06, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. | Taylor Hill/Film Magic

“We wanna thank God for giving us the grace to give him a little glory in this building tonight,” rapper-slash-country hit-generator Jelly Roll said onstage in May at the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards. The speech came during an exultant performance of his collab with Shaboozey, “Amen,” which features the chorus, “Somebody say a prayer for me / ‘Cause the pills ran out...